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“Desus & Mero”: Perfect late-night viewing for surviving Trump and the supremacy

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The late-night comic duo brings an original and important perspective to a genre dominated by white men
Everything about the “Desus & Mero” show is a sharp right turn from anything else you’ ll find out there in the world of late night. Desus, real name Daniel Baker, and Mero, real name Joel Martinez, tape the series in a conference room in the VICE’s Brooklyn office. The hosts sit at a heavily graffitied table with prayer candles that frame them. There’s a large stuffed bear behind them, adorned in a New York Yankees fitted cap and wheat-colored timberland boots, a nod to a style, culture and perspective Desus and Mero embody. Guests of the “Desus & Mero” show sit awkwardly between the two hosts, fielding questions and jokes from the right and left. It’s a unique a ping-pong format that Desus and Mero have pioneered and perfected in the short time the show as been on the air. In less than a year on air, the comedic duo has taped 150 episodes and counting for Viceland, and interviewed some of the most formidable voices in the current political and cultural terrain: Diddy, Chris Hayes, Janet Mock, Joy Reid, Malcolm Gladwell, Issa Rae, Soledad O’ Brien, Jesse Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, DeRay Mckesson and Larry Wilmore to name just a few. Just a few months in, Desus and Mero are joining that wave of voices as go-tos for not only comedy, but commentary. On Monday, Viceland announced that “Desus & Mero” will be renewed for season 2, which is not surprising. After all, there’s nothing quite like it out there. It’s a refreshing take on and alternative to the familiar late-night blueprint from two Bronx natives unfiltered in their political commentary and totally original in their interview style. It’s also the only show of its kind entrenched in the musical, visual and conversational culture of America today: hip-hop. For example, , the hosts shifted seamlessly between discussing former press secretary Sean Spicer and rapper Future, before introducing the evening’s guest, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow (“our girl R-Dow, ” as Desus called her) . The humor then, as almost always, was blunt, conversational, hilarious and fully, bitingly perceptive. Desus and Mero, who first met on Twitter, officially entered the web-comedy world in December 2013, when Complex TV launched the podcast and web series “Desus vs. Mero.” The weekly show ran for a year before the comics appeared for a brief stint on various MTV comedy shows. But it was through their ongoing, live-recorded podcast “Bodega Boys” that their fans multiplied and their personas elevated. (Desus and Mero’s diehard fans even have their own name: the “Bodega Hive.”) It seemed a sure fit when Viceland announced it would be producing a “Desus & Mero” TV show last year. Since the premiere of the first episode in October 2016, their shared star has only risen.

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